I can write angst!
by Angel Jade
Summary: Another self-insertion fic and yet another where Zim rules the planet. Dib's leading the rebellion. Who did you expect? Let the fun begin... Chapters 4&5 up!
1. DESPAIR

SLASH IS BAD, mkay? Don't do slash. I would just like to warn you, this is both self-insertion and another one of those future fics where Zim rules… hurry up and r/r! Flame me only if I've flamed you in the past… DisownedGaz, say anything you want! Sorry!  
  
Disclaimer… I own me and I own nada, tambien. Zimmy and friends ain't mine, but of course if you don't know that you really shouldn't even be here now shouldya? And so… let's get started, shall we?  
  
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DESPAIR  
  
Dib was trying to look at the situation objectively. It hadn't been long since their last defeat, so Zim wouldn't be expecting his small rebel army to attack yet. He would count on Dib being wise enough to wait for his warriors to recover.  
  
But Dib was beyond that point.  
  
There was no winning move for them now. Zim had more that 100 times their forces, and the only choice they had left was to do as much damage as possible before they were all taken. Or killed.  
  
***  
  
Sitting on the basement floor next to Dib, Angel glanced at him with fear. There was a hardened look to his face now, a scar deeper than any cut could have left, after the most recent loss. She sighed and looked away. He was preoccupied now, talking to his subordinates about tactics. This last would be a suicide mission. Doomed before they started. His expression darkened, as though he had heard her thought…  
  
***  
  
"Zim's Armada won't be ready for us now. We have plenty of men… and women… left for this attack." This last attack. "Make them ready."  
  
Bryce and Tina nodded gravely, Dib tried to keep up the mask until they were gone, tried to pretend everything was going well, as planned. The heavy black door slammed shut behind them. The pale, thin girl on the floor beside him flinched at the sound, but he was too busy for her now.  
  
He whirled his chair around, back to the computer. Back to kidding himself, to looking for a solution to the problem that would mean his eventual death.  
  
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	2. REMINISCENCE

REMINISCENCE  
  
  
  
After about ten minutes of idly surfing endless pages of virtually useless data, Dib was tired of it. He hit 3 buttons, leaving the computer dark and soundless, and stalked out of the room. He hit the light as he went, ignoring the fact that Angel remained in the room, and went to the weapons' warehouse. This was as sadly depleted as his army was, and he didn't spend long looking at the serial numbers on each gun. He had memorized these numbers, long ago when it mattered whom was left. Hundreds and hundreds of these seemingly meaningless numbers had passed under his watch, until the people they represented had become as faceless as the weapons themselves.  
  
***  
  
Angel waited in silence for Dib to return. He always left her like this, in the dark, and so she had become used to it. Here, days and nights meant nothing. It was only… when Dib was here and when he was not. The girl wasn't allowed to leave often; when she was, it was on Dib's orders, and he always came with her. She remembered a time when it was nothing like that, when she and Dib were "in love." Love! What a cruel joke that word symbolized.  
  
But she remembered, just the same…  
  
Dib had his arm around Angel. She was a little uncomfortable around his new friends, but since she didn't know why, she decided not to bring it up. It wasn't worth making him worry more. He was changing now; she heard a strain in his voice and felt it in his touch. She kept that to herself, too. Who wouldn't be tense under these circumstances? Zim was advancing more quickly than Dib had expected, and Dib's army was falling apart. He was able to rally them, but it took a lot out of him. Out of them both.  
  
"So, how long before the next attack?" The pretty girl with auburn hair was far too eager. She seemed too ready to go into battle, too obviously unaware of the danger her troops would face. Of how many they would lose.  
  
"Not long, I suppose. A few weeks, I think. That will leave us time to train your new recruits."  
  
"Will we be able to get in weapons for them quickly enough?" Chip was always thinking about the important details. That was what made him a good second-in-command. He remembered what Dib didn't.  
  
"Should be, I think. If not, they'll have to stay behind. More preparation time would be good anyway."  
  
Bryce had remained silent throughout this short discussion. He was tall and muscular, with hair the same color as Dib's, but he wasn't anywhere near the strong silent type. He was often deep in thought. His talent made him a good intelligence expert; his experience made him a great one.  
  
Dib asked him, "Bryce, where do you think would be the best place to hit Zim's base now?"  
  
"We need to storm the prison. 27 of ours were taken in the last assault, and we can't afford that kind of loss."  
  
"All right." Dib took his arm from Angel's shoulders long enough to write this down.  
  
"I don't think the prison is a good idea this time. Their guard would be expecting us, and we'd only lose more. In my opinion, we need to hit the barracks." Angel looked down shyly as soon as she finished speaking.  
  
Talon, a dark, handsome friend of Dib's, winked at her when she managed to look back up. Dib saw this. He tensed a little, and Talon looked away deferentially. Dib loved Angel a lot, and he was always jealous of other guys. This had formerly amused Angel, but lately it seemed fiercer. She wondered if he would ever explode and hurt someone. Then with a shudder, she pushed the thought away.   
  
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	3. PATIENCE

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PATIENCE  
  
Zim waited for his rather outdated computer to finish loading the updates on Dib's small rebellion. It was entertaining to him to play with Dib… such noble intentions the human had. Such FUTILE intentions. Zim voiced a short laugh at Dib's latest pitiful attack. He supposed he wouldn't hear from the boy for a few months or so, unless Zim took it upon himself to send out a squad after him. He decided not to bother; Dib would wear out his own army, if the sorry assemblage was even worthy of that title, soon enough.  
  
He spoke to one of his attendants quietly. "Get me something to eat." The servile human male ran out of the room like his life depended on it… which, Zim reflected, it did. There was almost nothing left for him to do now, except to wait and bide his time until he took the last of Dib's little conglomeration into his empire. He owned almost the entire planet, and for Sog's sake… he was bored?  
  
  
  
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	4. REDEMPTION

Hey people! The chapters are getting longer, but I still don't own anybody. Here goes!  
  
REDEMPTION  
  
Dib slumped at his computer, drowsy. He hadn't been sleeping well. Some nights, he didn't even bother trying, staying with the computer and its familiar mindless information. His body wanted to collapse, but his mind was never silent. He was trapped in a debate against himself. Should he go along on the last mission? Zim would catch up with him sooner or later . probably sooner. and it was a waste of energy to keep running from him. But if he stayed in his little Alamo, as he morbidly thought of his camp, he would at least live long enough to destroy the information kept there. He wouldn't do it now, because to do so would be an admission of his failure, and his army of rejects would abandon him. The cost of this final assignment would be the lives of his entire base, and all they had left was their honor. They would die with it, every last one of them, and Dib would make sure of it.  
  
Dib resolved to wait the mission out. He decided to stay at the base, alone except for the girl, and when Zim's posse came for him, he would blow up the entire camp. He and the girl would die together, as he had always planned.  
  
He finally fell into nightmare-filled sleep.  
  
Angel was watching Dib. She saw the final flutter of his eyelids as he fell asleep. When she was sure, when the slow, steady rhythm of his breathing assured her that he was not going to wake and see her, Angel rose. The motion was unfamiliar and painful, her legs cramped from weeks of sitting still, waiting for this moment. And before she had a chance to change her mind, she carefully drew Dib's black handgun from its leather holster inside his trenchcoat. She didn't wait an instant, knowing that if she did, the fear and guilt would become too much for her. She put the barrel of the gun to his chest and pulled the trigger.  
  
The sound echoed in the cement chamber so loudly that Angel dropped the gun and covered her ears in pain. She recovered quickly and ran out the door, leaving Dib dying in his chair. She laughed bitterly as she ran, thinking how appropriate it was that he should die in front of that computer.  
  
Her footsteps and her heavy breathing echoed in the dark hallway. Over the ringing in her ears, she could hear the sleepy sounds of people trying to wake. She couldn't see the doors to their dormitories because of the darkness, but she knew they were there. When she reached the end of the corridor, she stopped running and dropped into a crouch. She crept to the door she had used when she first entered the new base. What excitement there had been! She pushed the memories away and opened the door.  
  
The sky was beautiful! She smiled to see it. When she had last been outside, the lights of the city had made the stars seem even more distant and difficult to see. Now that the hateful aliens had destroyed the cities, the whole sky was alight with glittering orbs. Even the smoke had cleared away now, and the starlight sang its twinkling hymns to a desolate wasteland. Gray concrete rubble lined the streets she used to walk with Dib. Nothing was left of the humans he had so fiercely fought to save. Yes, Angel smiled.  
  
Dib's servant no more, she made her way across the skeleton of her once- beloved city.  
  
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Sorry, Dib lovers everywhere! I had to do it. I love Dib too! But this time, he just had to die. Oh well. Thanks to everybody who reviewed me. All three of you. *sigh* I'm gonna go rain some doom on somebody now. 


	5. PURSUIT

And here is the next chapter! Fun, fun, fun. Let's go.s  
  
PURSUIT  
  
Zim was in deep, peaceful slumber. No problems troubled him, and he had no reason to stay awake. He did not dream. He rarely did anymore, and when he did, he had nightmares. They were infrequent, however, and Zim did not allow himself to be plagued by the memories.  
  
Zim woke with a start. It was late at night. He could see the sky through the glass of his high ceiling, and the stars were unusually brilliant. The large base that bustled by day was a tomb at night, and there was absolutely nothing that should have awakened Zim. Somehow, though, he felt like something was different. Like something familiar and comforting was gone, and though he was not saddened, he knew that life would never be the same. Better or worse, but never the same.  
  
Three hours later, Zim was still restlessly awake. He had given to pacing the ornate room, lit only by the stars, when he heard the faint sound of someone else walking outside. He paused, stone-still, and waited for the sound to change. It did become louder, and finally Zim heard someone breathing softly, right outside his metal door.  
  
He strode over, determined not to panic though the combination of his sleeplessness and the sounds were enough to make him nervous. He opened the door, cautious and bracing himself for whatever demon stood there.  
  
Instead of the demon he had expected, the creature Zim saw seemed harmless and even weak. Zim seemed to know her, but he couldn't remember from where. He looked carefully at her face, then tried to visualize where he had seen it before. He did know. He was silent, spellbound by her sudden appearance and her apparent solitude. He looked at her. Her hair was longer than it used to be. She was thinner, more delicate. He noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual trenchcoat. Bruises circled her arms.  
  
"Zim?" Her voice trembled slightly, as though she was unsure of his identity.  
  
"Yes." He wasn't certain of what to say.  
  
"Zim, I. I don't know where else to go. They're after me. They want to kill me."  
  
"Why?" he managed softly. He wanted to sound more arrogant. He wanted his usual bravado back. He wanted to be in control of the situation. But he was weary, and he knew something was strange here.  
  
"I can't tell you out here."  
  
"Come in, then." There it was. Even if his voice was quivering a little, it still had the strength he was accustomed to. Angel did come in, shaking like she was terrified. This was a change, Zim reflected. Every time he had seen her before, she was filled with the same defiance as Dib, but now she was like a shell of her former self. He waited for her to begin her story.  
  
"All right." He sat down on his bed, and she sat on the floor as she began to speak. "Do you remember the last time I came here?"  
  
Zim nodded. "You and Dib were on a raid with that pathetic army of his."  
  
"Don't you call them pathetic!" Angel began to cry, but it didn't seem that his insult had sparked her tears. He nodded and sat back. "That was the last time I was outside."  
  
"That was 4 months ago!" He was derisive, assuming that she had made a mistake.  
  
"I know." The sadness in her soft voice showed Zim that he should not have been so hasty to judge her. "Dib went crazy after Gaz died. You know that. He began keeping to himself, staying in his little computer room for hours, even days, at a time. And when he stayed, I stayed. He had always been very possessive of me. my friends saw it first. They always said he was too controlling. They had no idea how right they were. He was so paranoid about losing me, too, that he hated for me to be anywhere without him. Finally, he snapped. Right after we got back from your base, Talon was talking to me outside the dorms, and I guess he got a little too close to me. Dib saw him, and. I hate thinking about what happened next, but I need to tell you. Dib came up behind Talon. His eyes, that's what I remember. They were dead. He put a finger over his lips, like I wasn't supposed to tell Talon he was there. I tried to tell myself he was just messing around, but of course he wasn't. He pulled out his handgun and shot Talon. Talon fell, this look of complete shock on his face, and Dib grabbed me by the arms. It hurt, I remember. He threw me into the computer room and locked the door. I've only left that room 3 times since, including now, and the other times, Dib was with me."  
  
Zim was leaning forward intently now, in order to hear her quiet voice. He sat silent for a moment. He had always seen Dib as crazy, but also somehow heroic. It seemed he had been wrong. This boy who preached of freedom and led his troops bravely into battle had imprisoned this child as though she was his personal slave.  
  
He finally decided to speak. "Where is Dib now?"  
  
Angel whispered helplessly, "He's dead, Zim. I shot him."  
  
Zim sat back, stunned. This was too much for him to accept all at once. "You shot him?" She nodded, looking at the floor. "Is that why they're all after you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"All right. You can stay here."  
  
No sooner had these words left his mouth than the entire base erupted in sound. They heard gunshots, shouting, and screams. Angel recognized some of the voices. Bryce, Tina, Raz, Tony, Chip. She leapt up and dove under Zim's desk. "They won't get in here," Zim notified her in a satisfied tone. "My security is very advanced."  
  
Chip burst through the door, gun drawn. 


End file.
